Beer Forum

BN'ers,

I'm looking for some inspiration on brewing a kick-ass American Wheat beer. I've brewed Jamil's recipe from BCS a few times. The wife wants an America wheat beer on tap (as she is not a fan of the IPA or Dubbel currently there), so I need to brew something. Instead of rebrewing Jamil's recipe again, I was hoping to find another recipe to try and I figured you guys might have one or two suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

-Okt

This is my clone of boulevard brewing's flagship wheat beer that they started with. This beer uses perle instead of simcoe boulevard uses. But it is a great light wheat beer and the soft white wheat in the mash gives it that wheat beer haze.

Boulevard wheat

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 6.50 Wort Size (Gal): 6.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 13.50
Anticipated OG: 1.058 Plato: 14.20
Anticipated SRM: 3.9
Anticipated IBU: 14.5
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 7.65 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.049 SG 12.16 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
51.9 7.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
44.4 6.00 lbs. Wheat Malt America 1.038 2
3.7 0.50 lbs. White Wheat Belgium 1.040 3

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.00 g. Magnum Pellet 14.00 7.6 60 min.
10.00 g. Perle Pellet 8.25 6.9 30 min.


Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP001 California Ale


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Type: Single Step

Grain Lbs: 13.50
Water Qts: 9.50 - Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 2.38 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 0.70 - Before Additional Infusions

Saccharification Rest Temp : 152 Time: 60
Mash-out Rest Temp : 170 Time: 10
Sparge Temp : 0 Time: 0


Total Mash Volume Gal: 3.46 - Dough-In Infusion Only

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.

American Wheat is my goto beer to brew because the fiance loves it and it is also a good beer to get BMC drinkers interested in my homebrew and more interesting beers.

The base one I brew is very simple:

6 gal:

5 lbs white wheat
5 lbs pale 2 row

1 oz williamette @ 60 min
1 oz cascade @ 15 min

wlp 001 or Wyeast 1056 (or Wyeast 1010)

I say that is the base recipe because I change one thing to it each time I brew it. Sometimes ill up/lower the grain bill for the abv I want. I have also done williamette all the way through and cascade all the way through. I like the cascade at the end because it gives a nice hint of an citrus aroma and taste. I have also thrown 1 oz (or less) of black malt in just to give it a more interesting color. I have also used other yeasts like us05 and wyeast 1010 (American Wheat). The 1010 was good, but I prefer 001 due to the fact it is easier to have around and this beer can create a nice yeast cake to reuse for something a bit bigger. I am also thinking about slightly dry hopping it at some point just to get a little more hop flavor out of it.

2 keys I have found after brewing 10 batches of this beer. 1. Keep the recipe simple because it is such a delicate beer anything you add does come through to the finished beer. 2. Ferment and drink pretty quickly. I have found that 2 weeks primary and 1 week in bottles (i dont keg) and this beer is awesome. It has some yeast in suspension which gives it a nice character and if you wait to long, the beer will drop bright and you loose a little of the wheat character.

Henning1966 wrote:But it is a great light wheat beer and the soft white wheat in the mash gives it that wheat beer haze.

What is it about the soft white wheat that contributes to the haze? Is it a protein content thing?

Yes it is a protien thing. You need to mash in a lower temp to break down the wheat protien so mashing at 152 keeps more of the protien intact causing it to haze the beer up.

Take JZ's hefeweizen recipe and substitute WLP001 for WLP300.

Henning1966 wrote:Yes it is a protien thing. You need to mash in a lower temp to break down the wheat protien so mashing at 152 keeps more of the protien intact causing it to haze the beer up.

Is this true of all wheat or is there something specific about the Belgian white wheat?

Your wife may not be a big IPA fan but she should probably try a Lil Sumpin Sumpin by Lagunitas. Pretty much 50% wheat and delicious.